The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-08-24
A COAL CREEK LEGEND.
TIE QUEER STORY OF a LOST SILVER
MINE,

Sill "a Foot Thick"--A Yarn as Is a
Yarn.
CLINTON, Ind, August 19.-Between
Clinton, Ind, and the Illinois line is
hilly bit Of country through which flows
a little stream called Coal creek. In tho
hills are valuable coal beds, lying gener-
ally only few feet below the surface of
the ground and cropping out many
places. The log cabins of miners and
poor formers, with here and there
stony field of corn and oats, are the only
signs OF civilization in the wild neigh-
borhood. The people have remarka-
ble story to tell to any stranger who may
chance to penetrate into their territory.
They firmly believe that there is a
VEN OF pure silver ga foot thick" in q
certain hill at the side of tho creek.
This rich vein of metal, they say, ex-
tends under the bed of the creek and
then is lost beneath high hill on tho
other side. No white man, now alive,
has ever seen this treasure. Many years
ago, however, an old man. dressed in
ragged garments, and acting as if no had
lost his wits, was seen occasionally in the
neighborhOod, and it was believed he
knew the secret of the mine. Tho old
man, after remaining in the hills two or
three days and nights, would disappear
rs mystcriously as he came. Whom any
one questioned him about the mine, he
would shrink from them and say: cit
would be death for mo to tell"
The people believed that this old man
dug up what silver he could carry away
away and then departed, only returning
when he needed more. He has not been
seen for number OF years, however,
and it is thought that he is dead.
The mine-so the story runs-is hid
den from human eyes by the power of
| Indian magicians. Furthermore, it is
protected by two grim guardians
great lion and n snake one hundred feet
long. There are many people in that
vicinity who say they have seen the lion
and the snake. AS they are never known
to leave any track behind them it is be-
iicvcd that they are ghosts. The people
say that when the Indians were driven
out of that country by the white settlers
the magicians of the tribe killed the lion
and the snake and left their ghosts to
guard the mine. In order to furnish
these ghosts with a hiding place the In
dlans set fire to bed Of coal, which
cropped out of the hill near by, thus
/ forming deep cave, which is there to
| this day, and which no one has ever
dcrcd TO explore. In this dark hole the
two ghostly guardians are bound by
charm. The snake, however, is per-
mittcd to leave the den once every year.
while the lion has the same privilege
accorded it once every four or five years.
Ut such times as they are free they roam
abroad and create terror for miles
around.
The snake was last seen in the summer
of 1856 by man named Murphy, who
with his little son was picking black
berries IN the woods. The father and
son ran away as fast as they could; in
fact, no one who has ever seen this won
derful serpent ever did anything in its
presence except run away from it, so Jar
rs any one can now remember. The
/ lion, however, has been hunted.
! John Fletcher, farmer, one day
about ten years ago saw the lion in front
OF him. lie ran to neighbor's house
and got gun, companion and pack
of hounds. They followed the lion to
thickct, in which it disappeared. The
hounds on catching sight of the beast
/ first bristlcd up, and then turned tail and
ran. The hunters also became frightened
ard went home.
Mrs. Hocket, when little girl, saw
the lion sitting by a stump on hill near
her fathers house. She began to scream
and her father ran to her. He could not
see the beast and told hel that she was
afraid of a stump. He &c an axe and
cut down the stump, but the lion still
sat there. 1t finally went away A few
| years later Mrs. Hockett's sister saw an
animal "likc big, woolly dog" running
down o hill by her side. Presently she
saw it was lion and ran away.
About ten years later Mrs. Hockctt
| her husband, and one of two other per-
sons, while going along lonely road at
night, heard an animal breathing in
thickot few feet away. Before they
had time to get badly frightened they
heard the animal rise above the tops of
the young trees and then crash down
into the bushes several hundred feet
away. a few more Of these tremendous
leaps took it out Of hearing. They did
not doubt but that it was the lion.
The spectral snake is described as be-
ing black in color and as large around as
that the charm by which it and the lion
are held will become powerless in few
moro years, and that they will go away
and never return. Then the lost silver
mine will be found. The white man,
who formerly visited the mine, is sup
posed to have received from tho Indians
a charm by which he could control the
guardian specters. When ho died the
secret was lost.
In the above bare statement the curl
Gus belief of the Coal Creek dwellers is
given without adornment of any sort, it's
value lying in the simple faith with
which the people of that locality accept
it as the truth. The story reads like a
relic of some medieval tale of enchant-
ment and fiery dragons, which in some
strange manner has been transplanted on
American soil.
''Say, why is everything